


supersonic man outta you

by zombiekittiez



Series: Postscript [2]
Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Dangan Ronpa 3: The End of 希望ヶ峰学園 | The End of Kibougamine Gakuen | End of Hope's Peak High School, Dangan Ronpa: Another Episode, Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: Coming of Age, F/M, M/M, Maturing, Music, Soda Centric, Some Plot, Some angst, a little a songfic, as a treat, crack soda/komaru, friendship fic, lyrics but only a little, minor pairing hints, redemption arc
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-20
Updated: 2020-03-20
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:55:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,715
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23225929
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zombiekittiez/pseuds/zombiekittiez
Summary: “Motorin’,” Kazuichi croons to the timing belt. His fingers drum along while he runs through the checklist for stripped parts.It’s cool, the whole rock scene? He’d tried guitar once, with the pink hair and the- everything- but it hadn’t stuck. None of it had, Kazuichi knows he’s still the same saggy loser, all paper doll dressed in cool people clothes. And then, get this, Hinata lets it slip that they’re not all that cool, after all. He’s just kind of flashy. Dumb looking. Fake. Maybe they could be, on someone cool. Like a coolness paradox.But the musiciscool, and Kazuichi feels kind of cool too. By the end of the week, he knows the tapes front to back. His wrench taps along, he mouths the words. He forgets, for a minute, about the ruined wreck of an island they’re trying to reclaim.The island, though, it doesn’t exactly forget about him.~~Kazuichi Soda learns a little something, at the end of the world.
Relationships: Hinata Hajime & Soda Kazuichi, Hinata Hajime/Komaeda Nagito, Komaeda Nagito & Soda Kazuichi, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Mioda Ibuki & Soda Kazuichi, Soda Kazuichi & Everyone
Series: Postscript [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1406809
Comments: 30
Kudos: 181





	supersonic man outta you

**Author's Note:**

> I 97% wrote this fic to stop using honorifics and change how I was spelling Soda's name in the first part. 
> 
> If you want to know why they are where they are, how they know who they know, or anything else, read part one.

It is, like most things, totally Komaeda’s fault. 

Kazuichi’s elbow deep in the ferry’s carburetor when the silver boombox appears as though by magic directly to his left. He looks up. Komaeda’s smiling. That’s never a good sign. 

“Can you fix it?” Komaeda asks politely. 

Kazuichi glances at it nervously, wondering if it might secretly be a bomb. They’re all cool now, totally cool, and anyway this is his best friend’s, uh, well, maybe not _boyfriend,_ but they sure are something, so. Maybe not a bomb. Probably. Maybe. 

“Yeah?” He tries. It comes out a bit rusty. “I mean, yeah. Of course, but like-” Kazuichi gestures vaguely, at himself in an oil-slicked jumper, at the ferry bits strewn around the warehouse, at the world, maybe. “I got a lot going on. I can put it on the list…?”

Komaeda nods thoughtfully. “I’m sure that is more important,” he agrees placidly. “I was only asking for Sonia, as it were.” 

“Sonia?” Kazuichi perks up stupidly. Like she might set foot in this dank ugly place, or if she might ever do it for something as heartening as seeing Kazuichi. Welp, in for a dollar, in for a dime. 

“She wanted to test out some of the audio book tapes, so she thought… maybe you…” Komaeda sighs rather theatrically. “But I can tell her you’ve got priorities.” 

“Leave the damn radio,” Kazuichi bites, turning back to the carburetor and grabbing the can of condensed air. He sprays the passages expertly, until the system runs clear. “I’ll get to it tonight.” 

And he does, okay? So what if it’s, like, technically past midnight or whatever. He hadn’t gone to bed yet, doesn’t count. It’s late enough, though, that the sudden drum riff and blaring electric guitar send him into full body cringe. Lucky that he’s the only one in this part of the islands this late. By the time he’s figured out the volume problem and fixed it, his toe had begun tapping along. Kazuichi’s still humming “Gimme All Your Lovin’” over breakfast the next morning, even. He only notices because of the way Mioda’s head turns in his direction when she hears it, like a dog with a whistle. 

Kazuichi likes Mioda, actually. She’s pretty cool and brash and so doesn’t seem quite as grossed out or overwhelmed by him as the other girls. It’s the reason he’d asked her to fix his hair back on Towa. Sometime on the way back, she’d lost a little of her glitter. Instead of wrapping her hair up in long cones, she’d let it loose and messy. It kind of looked like she could stand to brush it more. She might be overdue a bath, or at least a load of laundry. He’d thought a full blast Mioda was hard to handle, but sad messy Mioda is somehow worse. Kazuichi finishes breakfast quickly and escapes back to the warehouse. It’s a good morning; the ferry is purring like a kitten when he’s finished. He gets through both sides of the Top Hits of Rock: 1983. Three times. 

He brings Sonia the boombox back. She accepts it with a cool, polite smile. “Thank you. I know Komaeda was looking forward to the listening of the tapes.” Kazuichi feels slightly tricked. Ah well. A little more time with Sonia can’t ever be a bad thing. 

“She’s one in a million girls,” he sings on his way back. Kazuichi keeps the tape. 

“Thanks for fixing that so quickly,” Komaeda says over dinner. 

“What’s that green bit in your hair?” Kazuichi asks uneasily. 

Komaeda combs his fingers through his bangs. “Ah, I was out when Nidai was mowing the lawn, this must be grass? … no.”

“It’s a damn four leaf clover,” Kazuichi says, disgusted. 

“Well so it is,” Komaeda doesn’t even have the good grace to look surprised. “Tell you what- you take it. As payment for the radio.” He tucks the little green bit into Kazuichi’s front chest pocket. And maybe it is a little lucky, because when he’s gutting one of the old cars outside the Titty Typhoon for parts, he finds a half dozen tapes in the center console. Most aren’t all that interesting, but one looks pretty familiar. He squints at the label. Top Hits of Rock: 1984. 

“Motorin’,” Kazuichi croons to the timing belt. His fingers drum along while he runs through the checklist for stripped parts. 

It’s cool, the whole rock scene? He’d tried guitar once, with the pink hair and the- everything- but it hadn’t stuck. None of it had, Kazuichi knows he’s still the same saggy loser, all paper doll dressed in cool people clothes. And then, get this, Hinata lets it slip that they’re not all that cool, after all. He’s just kind of flashy. Dumb looking. Fake. Maybe they could be, on someone cool. Like a coolness paradox. 

But the music _is_ cool, and Kazuichi feels kind of cool too. By the end of the week, he knows the tapes front to back. His wrench taps along, he mouths the words. He forgets, for a minute, about the ruined wreck of an island they’re trying to reclaim. 

The island, though, it doesn’t exactly forget about him. 

He’s singing into the top of the broom handle, then he swings it around perfectly, bringing it up for the guitar solo, pressing invisible frets, rocking like a hurricane, and then- 

“Are you ready baby!?” Mioda screams, leaping in from the open doorway. When she sees Kazuichi, her face splits into a real grin, the first one he can remember seeing since Towa. 

“Kazuichi-chan, _what_ are you doing, is that supposed to be an air guitar?” She laughs breathlessly and it’s not possible, he knows, but it almost seems to echo a little, in the big space with her big voice. “You never played guitar before, huh? You look so dumb, your hands are just _so_ wrong-” 

“Mioda,” Kazuichi interrupts. He knows he’s smiling, this little strange twitchy smile, the kind you make when everything is terrible but you have to pretend you’re okay. She’s not really listening, still too busy laughing and dancing around, bopping her head along to a song that, up till a minute ago, he’d liked a whole lot. 

Hadn’t he liked Mioda? 

No. Way. 

“Mioda,” Kazuichi says again, a little louder. His fumbling fingers slide across the side of the makeshift tape deck on the workbench and the music drops off. She turns his way, grin bright, quizzical. 

“Mioda, can you go?” 

“What-” Her smile droops a little, like an unwatered flower. “What’s wrong? I… I didn’t mean-”

“Mioda.” Kazuichi is smiling so hard his face hurts. “Can you please go?” 

“I’m… I’m sorry.” Mioda’s smile drops completely, lands down by her feet with whatever was left of Kazuichi’s self esteem. 

She goes, though. 

~~

He doesn’t listen to anything for a week. 

~~

Mioda tries to sit at his table for dinner. 

“You’re not eating?” Hinata observes.

“Not hungry,” Kazuichi lies, getting up with a scrape of his chair. 

~~

Two days later, Kazuichi puts his head down for _just a second, jeez Hinata_ \- and when he sits up an hour or two later, sleep creases from his sleeve all across his face, there’s a tape balanced on the busted screen of the security monitor he’s rewiring. 

“Huh.” He looks left and right. Nothing and nobody. 

Top Hits of Rock: 1982.

A peace offering.

~~

At first Kazuichi ignores it. He goes a whole two days before he breaks. First he tries headphones, but the decent ones all have components he needs for better projects and the long tangle of cords keep ripping out when he’s working. No dice. So then he keeps it playing real low. 

“Just a small town girl,” he whispers along. 

But it’s just not the same. 

So he makes a few modifications- sets up a remote to control the sounds. Maybe he can turn it off real quick if someone comes. Avoid the embarrassment. 

Fuck Mioda anyway. She doesn’t _own_ music, just cause she’s the Ultimate Musician.

Soon he’s back to bopping and singing along, full volume. Blissfully alone. 

Or so he thinks. 

Kazuichi may not have noticed at all, actually, if he hadn’t dropped that wrench mid note and heard it carry just a little further on. He pauses the music. The singing stops. 

Kazuichi sucks his teeth thoughtfully. 

He cuts the music back on, humming along loudly. 

The singing comes back. 

He follows the notes around to the crack in the door to the bay out back. He waits until the sound is clear. Mioda sits in the dirt against the wall outside, eyes closed and singing quietly. 

Kazuichi turns off the music. Mioda opens her eyes. 

A beat. 

“It’s my favorite part,” she says weakly. “Rising up, straight to the top.” 

“The eye of the tiger,” Kazuichi agrees. 

Her knees are tucked up against her chest, arms wrapped around her shins, half hiding behind her long hair. 

It’s still pretty dusty. The dirt isn’t helping, probably. 

“It’s nice to hear music.” She says in an even tinier voice. “To hear someone liking music.” 

How long has she been sitting out here? Embarrassing as hell. Still, he’s having a hard time driving her off. She _had_ been awfully nice about the hair thing. 

“I can’t play,” she confessed, voice muffled by har arms. “Since Towa. _I can’t._ ” 

Ah hell. 

“I got a chair,” Kazuichi says gruffly, holding the door open. “It’s grody, but it’s got to be better than the ground.” 

Mioda brightens. 

“Kazuichi-chan-” 

He nearly shuts the door in her face. She stiffens. They exchange a look. 

“Soda-kun,” she says, subdued. 

He lets her in. 

~~

Mioda is weirdly shy at first, sitting stock-straight and still, hands primly in her lap. She likes the music, Kazuichi can tell, but she doesn’t let herself do more than sit in it. Doesn’t feel right, with Mioda. She comes by for an hour or so and then excuses herself with a bow that would feel mocking from anybody else but just sort of makes him feel lame and shitty. 

He still likes the music, but he’s feeling whatever the opposite of cool is now. 

So about three days in, when she is not singing along even though she badly wants to, he tosses her a wrench. She snatches it out of the air on instinct, like she would with a drumstick or a bass guitar. 

“Help me with this intake manifold,” he says, turning his back to her. After a long moment, she gets up. Her clothes aren’t exactly mechanic material, but they’re dirty enough that he doesn’t feel so bad about the grease splatters. 

“Here?” She asks quietly. 

“Go slow,” Kazuichi warns. They both end up humming, softly. Kazuichi closes the hood. The engine turns over neatly. They high five, Cyndi Lauper wailing on the stereo. 

By the time they’re both singing Golden Earring, halfway through rewiring a 3D printer from scratch, he thinks to ask her. 

“Speaking of the twilight zone… Mioda- where did you find that tape anyway?” 

She taps along on the table as she holds the frame steady. Kazuichi secures the heating board plate with the soldering iron in three quick lines. He nods at her and she steps back out of the way. He double checks the measurements. 

“Oh, Ibuki asked Nagito-chan. He’s good at finding things.” 

“Komaeda? Yeah, I guess he would be. You just asked?” 

“Yup! He’s nice, sometimes. When he feels like it. And I think he feels bad about-” she stops abruptly. 

Kazuichi eyes her but she doesn’t finish. He decides to let it go. Everybody’s got their secrets, right? Except, of course, right then is when she finds one of his. Busying herself tidying up, she opens the third drawer down on his tool bench. Mioda is already flipping through them by the time he notices. 

“These are from Komaru-chan.” She looks at him steadily. 

“Yeah, so?” He snatches them back, putting them in the drawer and shutting it a little too hard. 

“Ibuki didn’t know you were writing her, that’s all.” She steps back a little, keeping her hands at her sides. 

“I’m not,” Kazuichi bites off. “Hand me that thermocouple?” 

Mioda hands it to him and just sort of- hovers- while he installs it. He can feel the questions building up. 

“She writes me, okay? From the New Hope’s Peak, or whatever. I don’t know why she bothers. I don’t write back.” 

“But you read them. And you keep them.” 

He turns, quick, extruder fan in his hand like some kind of weapon, but she just steps a little further back, keeping her eyes on him. 

“...Yeah. I do. Okay?” He hands her the fan. “You got smaller hands, mind doing this part?” She takes it and moves beside him, sliding it into place. Quiet except the beat behind them- God, this song is so _long._ It feels even longer, now. “Go ahead,” he says, defeated. 

“And what?” 

“Ask why I don’t write back.” 

“Okay.” She straightens. “Why don’t you write back?” 

“She’s… she’s a girl, you know? Like a good girl, a regular girl. She don’t benefit from talking to a loser like me.” 

“Ibuki does.” Ibuki straightens. “Ibuki benefits from talking to loser you.” 

Kazuichi snorts. “You’re not like other girls, Mioda.” He says. He maybe means it like a compliment. Mioda purses her lips. “...What?” 

“Ibuki thinks you would be a lot happier if you could see girls as people first and girls second.” 

Kazuichi blinks in confusion. “I don’t… really get that.” 

Mioda smiles sadly. “Is it time for the stepper motor?” 

“Uh. Yeah.” Kazuichi turns back to the toolbox. 

~~

“Yo, Komaeda.” Kazuichi waits outside the crumbling clinic, all nervous energy. 

Komaeda blinks at him, then smiles. “What do I owe the pleasure?” 

“Uh, like. I was wondering… could I ask a favor?” 

Komaeda raises an eyebrow. “Sonia has forbidden me to switch work stations. Something about rare texts… and persistent men.” His smile is a little sharper than Kazuichi likes. He blinks. Had that been an option? _Damn._

“Ah, no, that’s not- did she say that? Like those specific words, or-?” 

“Soda.” 

“Right, right, sorry. Um, you remember that tape Mioda asked you to look for? You think you might… I dunno, keep an eye out for any others?” 

“You want rock tapes?” Komaeda asks neutrally. 

“Sure, yeah, whatever’s… like that.” 

“You don’t know much about music, do you?”

Kazuichi bristles. “Do I need to? I mean, can’t you just like a thing without- you know what, this was stupid-” 

“I found a few, since she asked me to look. Would you like them?” 

“Yeah! Yeah… uh… whaddaya want for ‘em?” Kazuichi falls into step beside him, heading back toward the cottages. 

“Your first born child.” 

Kazuichi rolls his eyes. “Yeah, good luck with that. You’d be waitin’ a long time… like forever, maybe.” 

“Don’t sell yourself short, Soda. I find there are a great many people with terrible foresight.” Kazuichi glares. “Joking, joking. Well, I didn’t know it was for you or I would have given them all over in the first place. Let’s just say it’s a thank you. You’ve done a lot to get this place running. What’s a little music between friends?” 

Komaeda stresses the last word with a flash of white teeth. It’s designed to get on Kazuichi’s nerves and it does so beautifully. He ignores the bait with only mild difficulty. As a reward, when Komaeda reaches his cottage, he hands over a small shopping bag. Kazuichi glances inside. Two volumes of Top Hits of Rock: 1987, two 70’s Rock Mix Tapes and six blank tapes. 

“Blank tapes? What for?” He turns one over. 

“Hm, who knows? Maybe you’ll find some use for them.” 

~~

Spaghetti night is Kazuichi’s favorite night of the month. MRE or no, spaghetti is spaghetti and he’s a fan- so what if the meatballs are more breadcrumbs than animal product? Sonia and Tanaka skip them with distaste, so Kazuichi gets a double helping. Already in a good mood from new music and good food, he picks the table where Komaeda is sitting alone, distancing himself from Hinata in public like usual. 

“Thanks again for the tapes,” Kazuichi says between bites. “Turns out I really dig Def Leppard.” 

“How surprising.” Komaeda says, not unkindly. 

“Soda, you got mail again.” Kuzuryu drops a letter beside his plate before taking a seat. “Quit makin’ Peko chase you all over the damn island and pick it up yourself.” 

“Sorry,” Kazuichi says around a mouthful of pasta. “It’s not like I know when they’re coming.” 

“Next shipment goes out Tuesday, if you wanna write back this time.” 

“You don’t write back?” Komaeda asks. 

“Yeah, it’s _weird._ Almost as weird as sittin’ all by your lonesome when you got a loved one waitin’ on you or whatever.” Kuzuryu says pointedly. He steals a meatball from each of their plates and Kazuichi can’t even be mad about it. 

“Can I ask you something about you and Peko?” Kazuichi asks abruptly. 

“Sure, but if it’s gross, I’ll bury your ass.” 

“What made you go for it?” He asks. “I mean you already… she already… but why now?” 

Kuzuryu hums. The spaghetti splatters around his mouth make him look about twelve years old, but Kazuichi values his life so he doesn’t point it out. 

“I mean I kept saying no a long time. It took a while to get it, but… me thinking I wasn’t what she wanted? She could be happier doin’ better? It’s rude, right? Like I’m so much smarter, I get to pick which way her life ought to go.” 

Komaeda stiffens. Kuzuryu pretends not to notice. 

“I think if you care about somebody, you got to respect ‘em. That means respectin’ their choices too. Dumbasses.” He adds, as an afterthought. 

Komaru’s letter is about setting up the school. She’s so so glad it’s really happening. Everyone is working hard, setting up a self-sufficient campus. She doesn’t mind working the grounds or cleaning, but she wishes she could have a little more downtime. It seems like when she’s not working, she’s sleeping. Not that she’s complaining! She hopes he’s doing well. The island must keep him so busy. 

Kazuichi sends back a package on Tuesday. Nothing big, just a tape with a song: “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun.” 

“This song is so lame,” Saionji complains, dropping off a hair dryer. He puts it in the medium-priority pile because even though it’s unimportant, getting Saionji off his back and out of the warehouse is a strong motivator. 

He pauses in his work, wiping the sweat off his brow. It’s warm enough in the warehouse that he’s stripped down to his tank top, clinging to his torso with sweat and oil. Saionji wrinkles her nose. 

“I can’t believe you live like this.” Her eyes linger on him a moment. 

Maybe it would have devastated him, before, but he’s finding he minds some things a little less than he used to. Mioda hasn’t swung by yet, but she will later, probably. And he thinks- maybe- Komaru’ll like the song. Maybe. 

“You want your hair dryer fixed?” Saionji huffs but nods. “Then get out of the way. I got a system.” He turns the music up to drown out her protests, waiting with surprising patience until she gets the memo and leaves. 

The hair dryer, strangely enough, seems to be working fine when he tests it. 

He’s sorry to think it, but Kazuichi really doesn’t get girls. 

~~

Mioda is holding two snapped off pieces of a computer monitor case together while the bonding agent sets while Kazuichi zip ties the inside wires into some kind of order when the visitors stop by. 

“What is this?” Kotoko wrinkles her nose. “It _smells._ ”

“It’s industrial glue. Get the hell out of here, it’s bad for kids.” 

“Piss off,” Kotoko says cheerfully. “Ooh, Ibuki-neechan-” 

Mioda’s hands tremble, just enough to break the seal. Kazuichi takes the pieces from her, holding them together instead. 

“Ah, can you find the- the thing-” He scrambles. 

“The soldering iron?” She asks in almost a whisper. 

“Yeah, that. Over there. You know. Away.” He shooes her off to the other side of the warehouse. By the time he looks up, Masaru is poking at an engine block, Jataro is prying open the bonding agent tin and Nagisa’s fingers are inching toward the drawer with Komaru’s letters. 

“Out,” he says sharply. “Or I’ll tell Hinata you’re impedin’ my progress.” 

“Big words, small man.” Jataro snickers, but they do edge toward the door. 

“What’s with the old people music?” Kotoko asks, jerking her thumb toward the stereo. 

“It’s a classic,” Komaeda says smoothly, sticking his head in the door. “And don’t run off on Miss Sonia like that during lessons. It’s rude, you know.” 

“You know this?” Kazuichi asks, a little pleased. 

“I’m livin’ for givin’ the devil his due,” Komaeda sings along. His voice is husky, pleasant. 

“Hey, that’s not half bad. You ever ditch the brats, you can stick around.” Kazuichi grins. 

“Really?” Komaeda asks curiously. He doesn’t seem to quite believe him. 

“Yes.” Mioda says. Her eyes are still trained on the floor when she hands Kazuichi the tool he most definitely doesn’t actually need right now. “You should.” 

“What’s a little music between friends?” Kazuichi finger guns. 

~~

Kazuichi lazes on the floor. It’s too damn hot to be working on engines. Mioda lays bonelessly across a backseat of a Honda Civic Kazuichi had pulled out last week. The music plays but just as background. 

“Hot,” Kazuichi complains. 

“So hot,” Mioda agrees. “At least Soda-kun can take off his shirt.” Mioda raises a fist to the air weakly. “Damn these gender conventions.” 

“You don’t have to.” Mioda sits up, looking shocked. “N-not the shirt thing, definitely keep your shirt on. I mean… calling me by my last name like that. I was… maybe too harsh.” 

“You really didn’t like it, though. How come?” She twists her body to face him. 

“That’s what my mom called me. Kazuichi-chan. And my brothers. And my dad, on good days.” He laughs a little but it’s not funny. 

No. What happened to his family wasn’t funny at all. 

“I’m sorry.” Mioda really does sound sorry. 

“Hey, no. It’s okay. I think it’s nice, you wanting to be close to everybody like that.” 

“So what about… just Soda?” She asks shyly. 

“Kazu,” he offers. “That’s what my friends called me, when I had friends.” 

“You have friends,” Mioda insists. She grabs his hand, sweat, dirt, grease and all. “Kazu.” 

“Am I interrupting?” Komaeda hovers in the doorway. 

“Huh? Nah, no, come in, man. ‘Bout time you showed up.” Kazuichi laughs a little awkwardly. 

“What’s that, Nagito?” Mioda looks up with interest. 

“Popsicles. I thought… since it’s hot…” 

“Whoa! Buddy, pal. Where have you been all my life?” Kazuichi gets up, using Mioda’s hand to pull her along. “Gimme a grape and take a load off. Listen to the music.” 

~~

Komaru’s next letter has a lot of exclamation points. She’s sorry it took so long to write back- it took a while to find some tech that was capable of playing cassette tapes. What a fun song! She’s glad he took the time to think of her that way. She’d be happy to hear more like that. Actually, getting the tape deck up and running was sort of a challenge. It had been a lot of fun. She’s thinking maybe about trying out more things like that. She’d gotten really good at making hacking guns. Still, Makoto wants her to stay at the school, where it’s safe. Does Soda have any advice? 

He sends back another tape. “Go Your Own Way,” the singer wails as he hits record. 

~~

“Come on, get up!” Mioda pulls first Komaeda then Kazuichi to their feet. “I love this song!”

“You say that every time,” Komaeda complains, smiling. 

“I love it every time!” She dances around to one then the other. Kazuichi, giving in, air drums along. Komaeda catches Mioda and they swing in big exaggerated circles- the kind of silly bad dancing you can only do when you could dance for real if you wanted to. 

Mioda stops midstep and turns to the entrance, suddenly delighted. Hinata leans against the open door, watching. His expression is coolly assessing, but he doesn’t look bored. It’s a good day, then. Mioda skips over, grabbing Hinata by both hands and pulling him into the room. 

“So this is where you all get off to,” Hinata says, amused. He allows Mioda to pull him into a rhythm. Kazuichi holds his arms out toward Komaeda who has stopped, suddenly shy. How about it, he tries to say with his waggling eyebrows. Komaeda takes his hand. They spin, laughing. 

“It was the heat of the moment,” Mioda howls. Kazuichi dips Komaeda low, nearly dropping him. Komaeda clutches the sleeve of his jumpsuit, breathless. By the time he’s back on his feet, Mioda is swaying ever closer. Without any warning, she claps her hand and spins. Now Kazuichi has an armful of Mioda who moves him around the room in a breakneck waltz. Over her head he sees Hinata catch hold of Komaeda and tug him in, gently. They move together much more slowly with a lot more eye contact. Hinata tucks a strand of long hair back from Komaeda’s face where it escaped his ponytail. Hinata leans in, murmuring the song quietly into Komaeda’s ear. 

Mioda and Kazuichi slow then stop. Happiness. It’s nice to see more of it in the world, Kazuichi decides. Even if it’s weird as fuck. He punches Mioda in the shoulder, so gently it’s barely a tap. 

“Let’s go get some more popsicles,” he suggests. They leave them to it. 

~~

While Mioda raids the freezer, Kazuichi splashes his face in the cool water of the outdoor fountains by the pool. When he looks up, he notices a figure hunched over on one of the pool chairs. She’s so still, curled over like that, that for a heart-stopping second he thinks it’s Nanami, curled over her PSP. But that wasn’t a real thing that ever happened, and Nanami is dead two, three times over. He blinks. 

It’s Sonia, trailing miserable fingers down the arm of her chair. 

Kazuichi sits on the chair beside her. Unable to think of anything to say, he sits in silence. 

With a great effort, after four or five minutes have passed, Sonia turns her head to look at him. “Can I help you?” She asks frostily. 

Which, fair. 

He thinks and discards roughly a dozen responses before shaking his head. 

“Can I help you?” He parrots back. It seems the safest reply. Kazuichi resolves to only be a tiny bit hurt about the distrustful way she draws back in her chair. 

“No.” She says flatly. “Not unless you could make Gundam see reason.” 

He’s an idiot, Kazuichi wants to shout. Did he screw up? I knew he was gonna. Sonia, you deserve so much better, a princess like you…

_You would be a lot happier if you could see girls as people first and girls second._

Kazuichi’s mouth clacks shut loudly, as if spring loaded. Sonia startles at the sound. She still looks pretty wary. 

“Do you want to talk about it?” He says instead. 

“What if I say no?” Sonia asks haughtily. 

“Uh… we don’t talk about it?” Kazuichi tries. “I can just sit here and be quiet? Or I can go?” The more he talks, the dumber he feels, but also the more Sonia seems to unwind. “I can get somebody else? Like Hinata or one of the girls?” 

“No,” she says again. “No, that’s-” she takes a breath. “It’s a personal problem. I made an oath to my people that I would never trouble them again. Novoselic has had enough of the troubles.” 

“And Tanaka… he’s not supporting you?” Kazuichi asks. He thinks a moment, drumming a beat against the arm of the chair. “That doesn’t sound like him,” Kazuichi admits dourly. 

“No,” she says a third time. It’s the nicest way she’s said it, though. “He’s… he’s supportive. Too supportive.” 

“What is this trouble thing you’re worried about?” Kazuichi presses. “I mean we’re living pretty far away, don’t you think? You’re not tryin’ to go back?” 

Sonia shakes her head several times. “I would never! My third cousin is doing a wonderful job governing. But Novoselic is very traditional…. If there was a chance for a direct descendent to take the throne…”

“But you wouldn’t.” Kazuichi says. 

“No. But I can’t know- if I were to- if _we_ were to…” Sonia trails off. 

“Like… a baby? You don’t want a baby.” He hazards a guess. “Wow you guys are at that stage, huh?” Sonia glares. “Sorry, sorry, that’s-” he clears his throat. “You don’t want a baby and he’s not okay with it?”

“He’s the Ultimate Breeder! How can he be?” 

Kazuichi chokes on his own spit a little. “Wow. That’s uh… probably not what they meant-? Or… Okay, anyway.” He coughs, trying to banish the idea of Tanaka in anything less than his usual five layers of clothing. “But you talked to him, right?” 

“I did. We decided on a mutual parting.” Sonia glares at the ground. 

“I don’t.. I don’t think that’s how a mutual parting works. Like I’m not sure,” he adds hastily holding up his hands defensively. “But what did he say… exactly?”

“That he respects my decision and my body.” Sonia crosses her arms over her chest. “But that is the lie! In not so many years, he would regret attaching himself to such a she-cat.” 

“Please never call yourself that again.” Kazuichi says a little desperately. “But, uh… isn’t that… not good?” He tries to remember what Kuzuryu had said. “Aren’t you just… taking all his responsibility away? Like mutual respect, right? He probably thinks a princess like you is too good for ‘such a cursed one’ or whatever,” Kazuichi air quotes. “But he respected you enough to go for it, yeah?” 

“Are you feeling okay?” Sonia asks, genuine concern in her voice. She reaches out as if to take his temperature and while once that would have been enough to send him into an early grave a happy man, he brushes her aside now, a little annoyed. 

“Why do people keep askin’ me that?” 

“Because you are not acting as yourself.” 

“Yeah, well, maybe _myself_ kinda sucks, Sonia? You know?” She blinks at him in astonishment. “Sorry, I just. It doesn’t matter, okay? Just- go apologize and talk it out.” 

“I’m not good at the apologies.” Sonia admits. “I am too stiff, they don’t… come out with the warmth.” 

“Yeah, I definitely get that.” Kazuichi stands up suddenly, snapping his fingers as he remembers something. “Hey, I got a way that might work. Wanna come to the workshop?” 

“Yes. Thank you... Kazuichi.” She allows him to help her to her feet and lead the way. 

“Ibuki thought you died!” Mioda shouts as Kazuichi pushes open the door. “Nagito is with Hajime so…” she trails off as Sonia steps inside, eyes roving curiously around the space. 

“Oh,” Mioda says, fidgeting. “Ibuki… should go.”

“Huh? Go where?” Kazuichi asks, confused. He takes the purple popsicle for himself and hands Sonia Komaeda’s blue. He leaves the pink for Mioda, it’s her favorite. He pulls a sheet off a large bulky shape against the back wall. 

“What is it?” Sonia asks, opening the popsicle.

“An incubator.” Kazuichi gestures. “I found it at the ranch. It needs, like, hella work. All this rubber is trash, some of the glass is cracked. I think I got all the pieces together, though. Komaru said they’re trying to send some live chicks in the next shipment or two, so… might be a handy apology.”

“You’ll fix it?” Sonia asks breathlessly. 

“Nah, I got to get the generator online for the perimeter fence for Hinata. You got this.” He hands her a wrench. “Mioda, you remember switchin’ out those gasket seals last week? This is just like that. Give her a hand, will ya?” 

“Yeah?” Mioda asks. She remembers her popsicle just in time, jamming it in her mouth before it melts off the stick. 

“Yeah.” Kazuichi glances through their small collection of tapes. He thinks before he presses play. 

“I like this song,” Sonia decides a few minutes later. “I too would like to paint it black.” 

~~

Kazuichi finds the electric guitar with the short under the trap door of the Titty Typhoon. It doesn’t take him more than 45 minutes to fix the problem. He’s still struggling through tuning the second string when Mioda shows up. She’s shy again, suddenly. 

“Sorry,” he says sheepishly. “I just, uh. I always thought they were cool. But I’m no good at anything ‘sides machines.” He smiles weakly. 

She steps closer and holds out her hand. He gives her the guitar. She tunes it in two minutes flat. She strums it once, twice. Her hands linger. She hands it back. 

“I’ll teach you,” she says softly. 

~~

Komaru’s having nightmares, she confesses. She wakes up quiet because you had to be quiet. If you weren’t quiet, the MonoBears would hear you and come for you and kill anyone stupid enough to stick around. She’s sorry, it’s a lot to dump on someone. And it’s silly to be scared. Actually, maybe it’s silly to still be writing him. Before the tapes… it wasn’t even fair, what she was doing. She didn’t expect him to write back or anything, it was just a place to put her hopes and fears and- 

Well, now it sort of matters. If he writes back. 

He sends a tape of “Don’t Fear the Reaper.” He thinks and thinks on what to write back, so much so that he ends up drawing out an intricate diagram without realizing it. It’ll make a white noise machine, he realizes, studying it. A simple set of blueprints using the most basic of electronic components. As an afterthought, he signs his name at the bottom. 

~~

Mioda plays the guitar now more than he does. Quietly, he finds a keyboard that needs a few 3D printed keys. He has Komaeda help reskin a set of drums. Hinata helps him rewire the internal sound system.

Sometimes, instead of listening to the tapes, they try and play some of the songs. It doesn’t always turn out, but with Mioda, it doesn’t always sound half bad either. 

“You know, Mioda…. It’s been a while since you put on a concert. I bet everyone would like it a lot.” 

Mioda stops halfway through a chord. “I can’t,” she says shakily. 

“You can play here,” Komaeda says gently. Today, Hinata has joined them. He spins one of the drumsticks between his fingers idly. 

“That’s ‘cause I’m not playing my own music.” Mioda worries her lip piercing. 

“So don’t play your own music,” Kazuichi reasons. 

“That’s stupid,” Mioda pouts. 

“All the greats first imitated the masters,” Hinata says dryly. “Me, for instance.” 

“How very morbid,” Komaeda sighs, laying his hand on Hinata’s arm affectionately. 

“Playin’ is playin’. You need people to listen and we need somethin’ to listen to.” Kazuichi taps her guitar. “You got a lot of life left to make new stuff. And anyway, you won’t be alone.” He taps himself in the chest. 

“A concert with a band?” Something bright is behind her eyes. Joy or tears or something nice. “You’d really all do that?” 

“Of course, Mioda.” Hinata’s voice is warm. “Why do you think Soda got us all together here today?” 

They have a group hug that Kazuichi thoroughly enjoys- just as much, he finds, that he enjoys later that day seeing Sonia walk by, arm-in-arm with Tanaka who is talking a mile a minute about egg-laying capacity and poultry temperament. Sonia winks at him in passing. There’s no bite of jealousy or pang of discomfort. Just kind of a soft fuzziness, like things are going good. 

It’s nice. 

~~

There’s no getting around it. Mioda’s the reason for all this niceness. She really _is_ different from other girls, but it’s not from some magical quality. He just likes her the best. 

The day of the concert, it’s natural, singing by her side, strumming his support on the bass while she pounds the keyboard, Komaeda drumming along gamely. 

The music shifts. 

“We got this one,” Komaeda steps up to the mic. Saionji, looking put out, sits at the drum kit. 

“Seriously?” Soda asks as Komaeda takes the guitar. 

“For one stupid song? Like it’s hard.” She rolls her eyes and her sleeves back. 

“I don’t-” 

Hinata steers the two of them toward their tiny audience. “Our turn,” he musses Kazuichi’s hair. “Proud of you, soul friend.” 

Kazuichi can feel the goofy grin across his face. He turns to look at Mioda. She’s so pretty in the low sparkle lights. She’s starting wearing her hair back in a braid and cleaning up a little better, these past couple weeks. She doesn’t even flinch back from the kids so much anymore. She takes his arm easily and she fits. It fits. They dance.

Everything is perfect- or it would be, if her eyes weren’t trained to the back of the room. Tsumiki rocks side to side in a little triangle with Mitarai and Imposter. 

Out of everybody, jeez. 

But isn’t that just like her? 

“You should ask him to dance,” he suggests. 

“What? No. What?” She laughs. “Ibuki would never.” 

“Ibuki should.” 

Her eyes widen. “What?” 

“Ibuki, you should. Ask him to dance.” 

He releases her. 

“Kazu…” 

He shoots her a sloppy salute.

“And if this world runs out of lovers,” Komaeda croons, “We’ll still have each other...” 

Kazuichi leans against the side of the stage, looking out. Nidai and Owari, the kids, everyone. It really is nice. A little sad, maybe, but that's life.

The song trails off and Kazuichi is yanked back on stage backwards by his shirt. He sprawls against the platform, squinting up. Saionji looks down at him. “Sorry,” she says, and it sounds weirdly real. She gives his collar a little shake, as if to say, not about the rough treatment, though. He staggers up and Hinata drapes the guitar around his neck. 

“Showtime,” Hinata’s hands come down on the keys and Kazuichi, trained from hours upon hours of looped, easy listening, steps up to the mic automatically. 

“Tonight, gonna have myself a real good time...” 

Imposter spins Mioda in the crowd, her braid long and coming loose. She looks beautiful. 

Good, he decides, singing louder. "Wanna make a supersonic man outta you!" 

Afterwards, during clean up, Koizumi slips him something small. He frowns down at it. 

“Ah, is it broken?” He turns the digital camera around in his hands. 

“No. That one can take video. I thought you might want that. For something.” Mioda and Imposter walk by, her hand on his arm. She’s always been touchy, but her starry expression is new. 

A bright flash goes off in his face. Surprised, he glances down. Koizumi lowers her camera. “Sorry,” she says. “Taking pictures of people’s smiles is a new project I’m working on. It’s like an instinct, you know?”

“I was smiling?” 

She nods. “It was a nice smile,” she tells him. “I see what Hitoko means.” 

“Huh? She tells me I look like a shark got in a fight with a woodchipper.” He snorts. 

“Yes, well. She has a type… and a certain way of showing it, too.” 

“Sorry, I don’t really follow…?”

“Well, that’s fine.” She straightens up. “You can keep that one, you know. I have plenty of cameras.” 

~~

Kazuichi plays back the concert. 

He looks pretty okay up there, singing like that. And even before, when he lets Mioda go, his back is straight and his eyes are clear. Maybe Komaru won’t know what it means, but… maybe she will. There’s still a few minutes left blank at the end of the tape. 

Junko. Sonia. Mioda. Something he wanted, made up, let go. And this Kazuichi now… 

He’s got a lot of life left.

Kazuichi smoothes down his hair one more time before he presses record. 

“Hey, Komaru,” he says clearly. “Thanks for writing.”

**Author's Note:**

> ~~
> 
> Playlist (in order of reference) 
> 
> “Gimme All Your Lovin’” ZZTop
> 
> “She’s a Beauty” The Tubes
> 
> “Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)” - Journey 
> 
> “Rock You Like A Hurricane” - The Scorpions 
> 
> “Don’t Stop Believing” Journey
> 
> “Eye of the Tiger” - Survivor 
> 
> “Time After Time” Cyndi Lauper
> 
> “Twilight Zone” Golden Earring
> 
> “Pour Some Sugar On Me” Def Leppard
> 
> “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” Cyndi Lauper
> 
> “Burnin’ For You” Blue Oyster Cult
> 
> “Listen to the Music” The Doobie Brothers
> 
> “Go Your Own Way” Fleetwood Mac 
> 
> “Heat of the Moment” Asia
> 
> “Paint it Black” The Rolling Stones 
> 
> “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now” Starship 
> 
> “Don’t Stop Me Now” Queen
> 
> ~~
> 
> Leave me a comment or a kudos if you dug it! Part three is a multi-chapter Komaeda POV, so I hope to see you back soon!


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